


A Girl and Her Animagus

by Jarl_Deathwolf



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Actual Cat Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - No Miraculous, Embarrassment, F/M, Fluff, Mutual Pining, No Angst, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23234905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jarl_Deathwolf/pseuds/Jarl_Deathwolf
Summary: Four years into their education at Hogwarts and neither Marinette nor Adrien have gotten the courage to ask each other out yet. Although this year promises to be different for Marinette, at least. Black cats might not usually be considered good luck, but Marinette has a good feeling about the one that's been keeping her company between classes...
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 230
Kudos: 509





	1. Yearning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome! As you may have noticed, this fic was inspired by another, which I originally found through [a comic done by the very talented yunyin](https://thewritewolf.tumblr.com/post/613136948929921024/yunyin-adrinette-month-day-13-harry-potter-au). The idea stuck with me for a while and after having a great conversation with my beta reader about it, I decided to make an entire fic based on [the ficlet by geek-fashionista on tumblr](https://thewritewolf.tumblr.com/post/613136935905624064/ficlet-request-hogwartsau-mari-tries-to-ask).
> 
> It was a joy to write, especially since I had recently started to reread the series for the first time in years and years, and I hope you enjoy it just as much!

Adrien’s owl dropped a letter in front of him. After four years of it, the excitement and hope that it might be new friends or literally anyone else had worn off. Instead, Adrien sighed and grabbed it, wondering what it was that his father was going to complain about today.

_Adrien,_ the letter began, incredibly unimaginatively despite the fact that his father was the final word in wizard fashion. 

_I expect your grades to show improvement from last year's disappointment. The sorting hat may have made an egregious mistake, but that will not reflect poorly on our family._

_Gabriel Agreste_

Rolling his eyes, Adrien flicked his wand at the letter, turning it into a little paper swan which flew away. The gesture only brought him a moment of relief though and he frowned into his breakfast. Looking past the sea of red and gold around him, he looked across the table over to the Hufflepuffs, where Nino was watching his paper swan fly out the window. Once it was gone, Nino looked at Adrien with concern, which he replied to with a noncommittal shrug.

What was Adrien _supposed_ to do? He was about as high up in the class ranking as he could get, with only two Ravenclaws, a Slytherin, and a Gryffindor being above him. None of them could touch his grasp of Ancient Runes. And, of course, most of them aren’t as intimately familiar with the ins and outs of transfiguration as he is, but that’s what happens when you don’t have many friends in your house and have a lot of spare time to spend reading.

While he was looking across the tables, he saw a late arrival dashing over to the Slytherin table across the hall. His heart skipped a beat when he recognized those black pigtails and bright blue eyes and suddenly any concerns about his father were thrust to the back of his mind. He saw her for a few moments before the big crowd blocked his view after she sat down. 

Adrien looked back at Nino, whose expression had turned from worry into a smug grin. A blush spread across Adrien’s face as he angrily put a finger to his lips. He’d get around to asking out that cute Slytherin!

...Eventually.

Assuming she even noticed him. He hadn’t failed to notice that she tried her hardest to not be in the same room as him whenever possible, even though their best friends were dating. Maybe she was taking the house competition thing seriously like everyone else. He sighed. Marinette was just about the only reason he’d ever wish to be a Slytherin.

\--------------------

Adrien rushed into Potions class and took a seat, breathing heavily. This was one class he definitely didn’t want to miss. Even if Potions was his least favorite subject, it was also the only one Gryffindor shared with Slytherin. 

Thinking of the House, his eyes darted across the aisle and saw Marinette seated and ready to start, giggling at him. A blush spread across his face and he quickly looked away as class began.

Professor Slughorn began the demonstration on how to properly brew a calming draught, a demonstration which quickly devolved into personal anecdotes and stories. All of which he’d heard plenty of times before since the Professor had invited him to his club and thus felt comfortable ignoring now.

Instead, Adrien kept himself busy by sneaking glances at Marinette whenever she wasn’t looking and pretending to read from his Potions book whenever she was. Which was surprisingly often, now that he thought of it. When the professor was done giving his rambling speech, he let them begin working.

Almost immediately, as he was looking up at Marinette, he noticed that a Slytherin next to her was about to add the wrong first ingredient to the potion. He winced - he was too far away to help and even if he wasn’t they probably wouldn’t listen to a Gryffindor anyway.

The Slytherin’s wrist was halted when Marinette caught it in her hand. Adrien’s face lit up when Marinette started talking to them and the correct first ingredient was put in instead. Kind _and_ smart. 

“You won’t get far by gawking at the competition, Agreste!” Professor Slughorn slapped his back, startling him, as giggles spread through the classroom. His face turned red and he went back to work, doing his best to avoid looking in her direction for the rest of the period.

\---------

Once Potions was over, Adrien had a free period and decided to spend it in the library. Hopefully he’d find Marinette there. She gave the best head scratches. Their conversations may be one sided, but he was always happy to lend a listening ear. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lovely mireilletan made some fanart of this fic on tumblr for my birthday! [Be sure to give it a look!](https://thewritewolf.tumblr.com/post/616926256090529793/mireilletan-i-didnt-intend-to-do-anything-for) :D


	2. Kindness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the life of a fourth year Slytherin

It took Marinette some looking to find a seat for breakfast since no one was making any space for her. Four years into classes and she had only made a couple friends in Slytherin house, although it wasn’t from lack of trying. With a house filled up exclusively with the ambitious, it was hard to tell who actually wanted to be her friend and who just saw her as a stepping stone for their own plans. 

And as desperately as she wanted to just say to heck with it and join Alya at the Ravenclaw table, she tried to spend at least one meal a day with her few Slytherin friends. 

“What’s up, pigtails?” Alix, a fellow fourth year, said as Marinette took a seat opposite her and filled her plate with a tasty breakfast. Her nose scrunched up in distaste. “You aren’t mooning over that Gryffindor boy some more, are you?”

Marinette blushed and angrily whispered, “Not so loud! Someone might hear you…”

“It’s not like it’s a secret,” Alix said, rolling her eyes, but she did lower her voice. “Besides, whispering tends to attract more attention than talking normally.” Glancing around, Marinette noticed that a few people were giving her the side eye. They pretended to be just eating when Marinette looked at them. 

“I guess…” Marinette took a deep breath. “So how’d you do on your Magical Creatures exam? I did loads better with your help!”

“I know you’re changing the subject, but if it means I get to talk about cool monsters, I’ll let it slide.” As Alix got started, Marinette began scarfing down her food as fast as she could. She’d arrived late thanks to the castle still being a confusing mess to her. At least she could look forward to her little helper guiding her to Potions. 

\--------------

Just like she hoped, the black cat - who she had decided to call Chat Noir - that had been her constant companion for the past year met up with her after breakfast once she was in a less crowded hallway. And just like usual, she used the mostly alone time to vent about her frustrations with her house.

“...And they just… UGH!” Marinette concluded, running a hand down her face. “I told you last week how Lila took the platter of cookies I’d made and tried to pass them off as her own, right?” 

Chat meowed dutifully. Sometimes she forgot it was just a cat and thought it was actually actually listening to her. Today was one of those days.

“Well, _now_ she apologized in front of the entire dormitory, just because then I had no choice but to accept the fake apology.” Marinette growled, gritting her teeth. “She always does that! Even worse, she never gets better. I swear, with that posse of hers, she’s only been getting _worse_.”

Marinette stopped to catch her breath after finishing her rant. After a few moments, she realized she hadn’t heard the cat reply back and looked around. The entrance to the Potions class was right in front of her and just as she suspected, the cat was nowhere to be seen. She wasn’t surprised. Not once had the cat ever followed her into a classroom, unless she counted the library. 

She took her seat, feeling pretty pleased that she had ended up being a little early for once. Naturally, her eyes gravitated towards the opposite side of the room where the Gryffindors congregated. Just as she registered with disappointment the empty space where Adrien usually sat, he burst through the other door and rushed to his seat. He was breathing heavily as if he had just sprinted here. 

It was such a difference from his usual composed self that Marinette couldn’t help but giggle at the sight. Naturally, when she looked over at Adrien, he was staring right at her and blushing. She winced and looked away, cursing herself. Now she’d done it - he just saw her laughing at him! He must already hate her for being Slytherin, and now she’s lived up to the stereotypes. 

She sighed and listened in boredom as Professor Slughorn lectured, frequently drifting in and out of daydreams. Potions was a strong suit of hers - it wasn’t a lot different than cooking when you got down to it, and she’d done plenty of that at home. It was one of the few times she had an advantage over her magic-raised classmates right from the start. 

Which meant that when the Slytherin next to her - whose name she’d couldn’t place at the moment - was about to add peppermint first she immediately recognized what a disastrous move that would be. Moving instinctively, she caught her wrist. 

“Wait!” The other Slytherin looked at her with surprise. “You start with _lavender._ Peppermint goes in at the end.”

She frowned, looking at Marinette suspiciously. “Are you sure? My book says- Oh.” Her ears burned red in embarrassment. “Thanks, Marinette,” she said meekly.

“No problem!”

Smiling, Marinette got back to work with her own potion. 

\-------------

After Potions ended and she’d won five points for Slytherin by making the best Calming Draught in the class, Marinette headed to the girls’ bathroom. Just as she was about to leave, she heard crying coming from one of the other stalls. 

“Um… hello?”

“Go away!” The way the voice was warbling with tears, however, said the opposite so Marinette took a few cautious steps forward.

“Is something wrong?” A loud wail answered her. “...Can I help with anything?”

A defeated sniffle. Marinette slowly opened the stall door, giving the other girl plenty of time to tell her to stop. When she didn’t, Marinette pushed it open all the way. Inside was a hufflepuff student, first or second year by the looks of her. And not just because she’d accidentally shaved off a good portion of her hair in random patches. 

The Hufflepuff girl recoiled as if slapped when she saw the color of Marinette’s robes. 

Biting down the irritation, Marinette kept a soothing tone of voice, “Hey, it’s alright. I remember trying that spell too a couple years back.” 

Pro tip: Never trust spells written on bathroom walls.

“If you want, I can help you make the most of it.”

The girl sniffled. “Do you… do you know a hair growing spell…?”

“Sorry, I’m not good at it, so I can’t get it back to how long it was,” Marinette said while shaking her head. “But come on! We can at least make it work for you.”

There was a moment of hesitation before she nodded and took Marinette’s offered hand. After a half an hour of muttered incantations and brushing and styling, the Hufflepuff girl - Rose, she discovered her name was - left humming happily to herself. 

With a spring in her step, Marinette headed for the library. She had some studying she needed to get done if she was going to do well in the upcoming Transfiguration exam. Her day got even better when she saw her black cat sprawled out on their usual spot, taking in a sunbeam as his tail flicked up and down lazily. 


	3. Frustration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien vents to Nino about his love life, or lack thereof.

“Nino, you don’t understand!”

“Yeah?” Nino said in a deadpan tone of voice. He dropped the stack of books onto their table in the library. “Why don’t you tell me about her for the third time today then?”

“It hasn’t been three times yet…” Adrien huffed, but it lacked conviction. “And besides, she really is great! Like-”

“-like the time she helped out the Slytherin girl and a whole laundry list of other times she did some seriously neato stuff for randos.” Nino flashed Adrien a smile and put a hand on his shoulder. “Dude, I get it. You’ve got it way bad. So why don’t you just ask her out already?”

“You sound like my roommates.” While they were alright people, they were far too brash for Adrien’s liking. Kim made it sound like all Adrien had to do was walk up to Marinette and ask for a date. Even though he had even less dating experience than them - which really was saying something - it couldn’t be that easy.

Right?

At least the other kids in his dorm were willing to give him some advice. Most of the other Gryffindors tended to react with disgust whenever anything related to the Slytherins was brought up. No matter who that Slytherin was, or what they were like. Old rivalries ran deep, after all. 

Thankfully, Nino was a lot more chill than that. In the four years Adrien had known his best friend, he could always rely on him to be the more level headed of the two of them. Even though sometimes he wasn’t always calm and collected - Nino got just as fired up as the rest of them when it came to Quidditch. Probably because it was his big tie to the magical world, and the way Nino’s dad had slowly introduced him into magic. 

Sometimes Adrien wondered how Nino’s muggle mother reacted to learning about a whole hidden world.

“Your roommates sound like they’ve got the right idea, my dude,” Nino said. It took a moment for Adrien to remember what they had been talking about before he’d gone off on a mental tangent. “You know, I’ve got an in with her…”

Adrien rolled his eyes as he unrolled his parchment to take notes. “And for the last time _no_. If I ask her out, then I’d want it to be natural, not because you and Alya locked us in a closet somewhere.”

“You keep saying ‘if’, like you won’t do it.” 

“I don’t even know if she likes me!” Adrien threw his hands in the air, his robes magnifying the gesture. “She avoids being in the same room as me, plus she can hardly stand to speak to me.” Adrien pointed a finger at Nino accusingly as he was about to interrupt. “And don’t say it's just because she’s nervous since she was definitely laughing at me during Potions class.”

Nino held up his hands in surrender. “If my bro doesn’t want to listen to reason, then sure. I won’t say another word.” 

“Thank you,” Adrien said, relaxing a little. He dipped his quill in the ink.

“Not like I’ve got an inside source telling me she’s head over heels for you.”

“Uh huh.”

“Plus I’ve got eyes.” 

“I have eyes too!”

“Yeah, I’m not a sheltered pure blood rich kid who had to have his best friend explain that making goo goo eyes at a girl means you’ve got a big old crush on her.”

“Shut up!” Adrien said, blushing. “I haven’t had a crush before!”

“Whatever you say, dude.” Nino stretched. “I’m just glad it only took you two years to put it together.”

“Nino!”

“I mean, imagine how far back we’d be if you’d taken a couple extra years,” Nino continued, a smirk on his face.

“Stooop!” Adrien whined.

“Oh, don’t worry, dude.” Nino patted Adrien’s arm. His pen had already gone dry and he’d have to clean his parchment thanks to hovering in the same place with the ink dropping. “At this rate, I’m sure it’ll only take you two… maybe three more years before you ask her out!”

Adrien carefully sat his quill down, buried his face in his hands to hide his blush, and groaned.


	4. Courage Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Alya figure out a plan to get Marinette on a date with Adrien.

Marinette groaned into the wood of the table while everybody else was grabbing their dinner. To add to her misery, she softly beat her head against the Ravenclaw dining table.

“Girl, you’ve got to relax,” Alya said, patting the back of Marinette’s head. “You laughed at him a little. So what? Adrien doesn’t have a hateful bone in his body. I bet he doesn’t even remember it and even if he does, he isn’t going to hold it against you.”

“But-”

“No buts! Now come on, girl, eat. Skipping dinner isn’t going to help anything.”

Marinette raised her head and picked out some food from the great heaping plates in the middle of the table. All the while she ignored the occasional suspicious glance from the Ravenclaws - even if they were a little leery about the color of Marinete’s robes, it was a lot better than the treatment Alya got whenever she came over to the Slytherin table. And it wasn’t like Marinette hadn’t gotten used to those looks over the years.

Besides, she really needed Alya’s help. Her years long plan to woo Adrien was in critical danger from her little mess up earlier. Between the two of them Marinette knew they could figure something out. Alya was always cool under pressure and helped keep Marinette’s head from spiraling down into a panic. 

“I think it’s about time you asked him on a date.”

Marinette choked on the very first piece of food she tried to eat. Once she had gotten her coughing under control, she turned to Alya, betrayed. 

“Do you really think it’s that easy?!” Marinette’s hands flailed around her head, a nearby Ravenclaw girl leaning away to avoid being slapped by an errant robe sleeve. “If I could do it no sweat, then I would’ve years ago!”

“Ah!” Alya said with a smile, holding up her finger. “But that was then, and now you have the perfect excuse!” She pulled a flyer out of her robes and passed it to Marinette.

Curiosity overcoming panic for the moment, she read the fanciful script. “The Yuletide Ball…?”

“Exactly,” Alya said. She pushed up her glasses, a sure sign Marinette was about to receive a wizarding world lecture from her pure-blooded friend. “Its a big once-every-four years party. Apparently it used to be tied to some big wizard tournament years ago, but then it got canceled permanently. But Headmistress McGonagall loved it so much she decided to bring it back, tournament or no.”

“And what does that have to do with me?”

“It’s a couples-only event, M.” Alya rolled her eyes. “That means you have an official excuse to be asking for a date.”

Marinette took a bite to eat while she mulled the concept over in her head. To her surprise, it actually did help. This way, it wouldn’t feel completely out of the blue and she wouldn’t look totally weird. And she had a reason to fall back on if she couldn’t admit that she had a crush on him right then and there. While she didn’t want to use that safety net, it made her feel a lot better just knowing that it was there. 

But then she discovered the first big hurdle.

“Alya,” Marinette whined, “I can’t get so much as a sentence out around Adrien. How am I supposed to ask him out to his gorgeous, sweet face?”

Her friend pinched the bridge of her nose. “Girl, we’re _witches_! I’m sure we can figure out _something_!”

“Um…” Marinette scrunched her forehead up in thought. “How about I send an owl with a note at breakfast?”

“Not exactly the high magic answer I was expecting from one of our class’s top witches, but I’ll take it!” Alya wrapped her arm around Marinette in a half hug. “This’ll be great! By this time tomorrow, you’ll have that boy wrapped around your finger. Just wait and see.”

Alya’s enthusiasm was contagious and by the end of dinner, Marinette was skipping with joy to her bedroom, eager to write the letter that would win Adrien’s heart. Everything had to be perfect - she pulled out her best quality ink and began writing on a bright red envelope. Despite her best efforts, it wasn’t her greatest note ever… a little rambly, but she didn’t have another fancy envelope. 

Even so, she couldn’t help going to bed with a great big smile on her face. Everything was going to work out great!


	5. The Howler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien receives Marinette's letter and she really wished that he hadn't.

The one downside to her plan, as far as Marinette could tell, was that she had to get up extra early in order to get to her owl in time for the letter to arrive by breakfast. This was not an inconsequential flaw because she was very much not a morning person and was tired to her bones as she dragged herself into the Great Hall for breakfast. 

Marinette took a seat at the sparsely inhabited Ravenclaw table, feeling a little concerned that she might be overstaying her lukewarm welcome there. Still, if she ever needed Alya’s comforting support, it was today. Everything was out of her hands now and all she could do was wait to see Adrien’s reaction.

Would he read over it and tuck into his robe without a reaction? He must get plenty of similar letters everyday from hopeful witches and wizards, especially as the Yuletide Ball got closer and closer. Her eyes widened in fear as a thought crossed her mind. Had he already accepted someone’s offer? What if she was too late?

Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down. Alya was dating Nino, and Nino was Adrien’s best friend. If Adrien had already gotten a date, Alya would know and she would have never suggested this. 

What if he got the letter and his face lit up? Their eyes would meet from across the room and he’d run over to her and he’d say yes and they’d kiss and-

“You look like you’re in a good mood,” Alya said as she slid in next to Marinette. She rested her cheek against her hand as she looked at her with a knowing smirk. “I don’t suppose you just cut out the middle owl and asked him out in person?”

Marinette snorted. “Uh, no. I’m just excited to see what he thinks of my note.”

“Ooo, girl!” Alya gently punched Marinette’s shoulder. “You actually did it! I knew you had it in you all along, of course,” she added with a wink. “You remembered to sign this one, right?”

“Absolutely!”

“With the little heart over the ‘i’ and everything?”

“I- Yes?”

“Good, good. That’ll really get him, the little romantic,” Alya said sagely. “Anyway, can you give me a hand with this Charms assignment while we wait?”

The two of them got engrossed in Alya’s homework and before they knew it breakfast was in full swing. Not long after everyone had arrived, the owls began pouring in and dropping mail. Marinette watched with excitement as her crimson letter landed in front of Adrien.

“Look!” She said, pulling at Alya’s robe sleeve. “Look, it landed! I told you I sent it!”

Alya shook her head and smiled as she turned around. “I never questioned it for a moment, girl. You know I-” She froze and Marinette looked at her with concern. Her face had gone pale and her eyes widened.

“Uh… Alya? You okay there?”

“Mari, _please_ tell me that the red envelope isn’t yours.”

“No, that’s mine.” She tilted her head. “Why? What’s wrong with-”

Marinette was cut off by her own screaming voice. “DEAR ADRIEN,”

Rooted to the spot and unable to look away, she was only vaguely aware of a hush falling over the entire room.

“I HOPE YOU’RE HAVING A GOOD MORNING.”

Not that any other conversation was even possible with that letter formed into the shape of a mouth screeching at Adrien, whose hair was being slightly blown back by the force of the yell. Just like her, he seemed frozen in place.

“I KNOW YOU PROBABLY ALREADY HAVE A DATE SINCE YOU’RE, YOU KNOW, VERY HANDSOME AND SWEET AND ALL BUT JUST IN CASE YOU DON’T I’D LOVE IF YOU’D CONSIDER GOING WITH ME?”

Some giggling picked up around her and Marinette hoped that just this once her awful habit of forgetting to sign things would actually work in her favor. _Please_. Just this once. 

“LOVE, MARINETTE”

Her heart sank at the words. Soon after, her face heated up as every eye in the room turned towards her. A few people - including Alya - had started talking, believing that was the end of it. 

“PS I’M TALKING ABOUT THE YULETIDE BALL. I SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED THAT EARLIER.”

And with that the horrible, accursed letter ripped itself into pieces. 

“It’s… it’s not _that_ bad-” Alya tried to say, but Marinette bolted out of the Great Hall before she could hear any more. 

All that she caught was the uproar of laughter that she could hear even after she had sprinted out of the room. 

\-----------

Marinette fled to the girls’ bathroom, the refuge of students who just wanted to cry their eyes out. Which she had done with gusto, but after ten minutes of crying, she had to decided to take a break with some sniffling and hugging her knees. 

The bathroom door opened, but she didn’t hear anyone walking. The reason became clear after a moment when Chat Noir tentatively poked his head under the wall and entered when he recognized her. 

“Perfect timing,” she said with heartfelt relief as she sat up, letting him jump onto her lap. “I needed someone to vent to- Wait. What’s this?”

Marinette noticed that he had a ribbon tied around his neck and a well-folded piece of paper stashed there. She pulled it out and glanced dubiously between the note and Chat Noir.

“Is this… for me?” She asked.

“Meow,” Chat replied.

Curious, Marinette read the note. 

‘Meet me in the library after Potions?’ Signed…

Marinette gasped. “Adrien!”

As if spooked by the name, Chat Noir jumped off and ran away. 

There was a lot to unravel here, but for the moment, Marinette was just happy she hadn’t scared Adrien away like she just scared Chat… or so she hoped.


	6. Chatting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A much needed conversation, and some spilling of secrets.

For the first time this year, Marinette walked to Potions class unaccompanied by Chat Noir. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment and not just because she missed his company. How did Adrien know that Chat Noir would find her? 

How did he manage to put a note on the cat? Once, Marinette had tried to put a collar on him and he avoided her for a week afterwards. So clearly the two had to be linked somehow. 

The thought had only barely crossed her mind when she entered the Potions room and saw Adrien seated among the Gryffindors. He caught her staring and smiled warmly at her, which helped ease the sting of the smattering of pointing and giggling from some of the more mean-spirited people in the room.

“Yes yes, Ms Dupain-Cheng, don’t dawdle near the door,” Professor Slughorn said. Marinette jumped, startled, and scurried off to her seat. 

During the rest of class, Marinette kept sneaking glances toward Adrien and wondered. Her heart fluttered when she realized she would be talking to him soon. Not quite the way she had expected it to go, but… at least he wasn’t shunning her, so that was a start.

\-----------------

Class ended and Adrien was out of the classroom like an arrow. He wanted to get to the library before her so he could sit down and let his nerves calm down a little. The constant whiplash of emotions he’d been feeling since breakfast probably wasn’t good for him. 

Obviously, receiving a Howler had been pretty embarrassing and shocking, although the embarrassment wore off pretty quick when he realized it hadn’t been his father screaming at him. After processing what it had actually said, he was over the moon with excitement.

All that hand wringing, all that worry… it had all been for nothing. Marinette actually liked him! At least enough to want to dance with him all night at the Yuletide Ball. Which was a heck of a lot more than he had been expecting. 

Excitement had made him turn around just in time to see Marinette flee from the room and suddenly worry was back in full force again - this time, on her behalf. He figured that seeing a friendly, furry face after that might help her more than him as a human showing up. It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that he was still a little nervous around her, as if he expected her to take it back the next time she saw him.

That fear still crept around in the back of his mind, but he did his best to suppress it as he saw Marinette enter the library. If everything went well, once this was done she’d be his date for the Yuletide Ball. She slowly approached his table and he could tell she was deep in thought. 

Deciding it was better to get the big issue dealt with first, Adrien began, “So about the Howler-”

“How do you know Chat Noir?” Marinette quickly cut in, a blush slowly spreading across her face.

Adrien blinked. This wasn’t how he expected this conversation to start, but… “I’m going to need you to promise you won’t be mad.”

Her face creased with worry. “Why would I be mad? What happened?” Her eyes widened with fear. “Did something happen to Chat?!”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

“I didn’t-” Her jaw dropped. “You’re…” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “...my Chat Noir?”

His heart did a little backflip at that, but he managed a nod. In a very quiet voice, he said, “I’ve always been good at transfiguration, so when I found out how to become an Animagus…”

He trailed off when he watched her bury her face in her hands. This wasn’t going the way he had wanted it to. He was just about to offer to leave when she began laughing.

“Sorry, sorry,” Marinette said, wiping away tears. “Its just… I can usually come up with some crazy ideas, but I never expected you and Chat to be the same person. But it makes sense, I suppose. You’re both very sweet. And cute.” Her pupils shrunk to pinpricks and she quickly covered her own mouth. “Pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“I will do no such thing.” Adrien smiled and scooted his chair closer to her. “And while I would love to hear you call me cute some more…” she groaned in embarrassment, “...I mostly just wanted to talk about the Yuletide Ball.” 

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

He put his finger on her lips, cutting her off. “I accept.”

“I- What?” Her face was a mask of bewildered confusion.

“You asked me out to the ball, right? Well, I accept.” Adrien grinned. “And no take backs! You’re stuck with me now.”

Smiling softly, Marinette seemed to let go of a lot of tension all at once and rested her head against his shoulder. “I can live with that.”


	7. Yuletide Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the Yuletide Ball arrives.

“Dude, you need to chill a little,” Nino said, placing a hand on Adrien’s shoulder. 

“This is my big chance, Nino! How can I possibly be chill at a time like this?” While he wanted nothing more than to throw his hands into the air in exasperation, Adrien was very careful not to wrinkle his suit. Although that was more out of an unconscious reflex than anything else, long and boring dinner parties held by his father having instilled it in him.

Of course, tonight would be anything but boring. The Yuletide Ball was always a high point of the already exciting season, and that was before Adrien had managed to get a date with his crush.

Nino pulled Adrien around so he was facing him. “Just be yourself, bro. That’s who she digs, after all.” 

Before he could thank Nino for the encouragement, he heard the clicking of heels against stone and instinctively looked up. 

Even before Adrien had come to grips with the fact that he had a crush, he could admit that Marinette was very cute. It hadn’t been much of a clue about his real feelings because it felt like something that was blatantly obvious. The grass is green, gnomes are mean, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is adorable beyond words. 

But seeing her walk towards him in a gorgeous green dress? One that she had almost certainly made by hand despite having magic at her disposal? With her hair done up in a way he’d never seen on her before, eyes shining like they were the stars winking down from above? He had to rethink the whole ‘Marinette is cute’ concept.

Because she was nothing less than beautiful. 

It took a few long moments before either of them spoke. With a little pride, Adrien realized she was as stunned by him as she had stunned him. Someone cleared their throat.

“If you two love birds are done,” Alya said with a smirk. “Can we head into the ball now?”

The two of them looked away, blushing. Adrien gave Marinette his arm, who took it after only a moment’s hesitation. Following right behind Alya and Nino, they walked into the bright lights of the Yuletide Ball.

\---------

After hours of dancing and eating and laughing, Marinette had thought she would have been tired but it turns out the only thing she was tired of was the crowd. She surprised even herself by suggesting that they go for a walk along the castle grounds. 

Which brought her to the current moment. Walking side by side with Adrien. The scenery was serene and beautiful even in the dead of winter, the perfect place for a pleasant stroll. Then again, she could have been walking through a parking lot and it would have been wonderful just because Adrien was with her. 

“I can’t believe I’m actually here,” Marinette said with a smile. 

“Where?” Adrien asked, an adorably confused expression on his face. “At Hogwarts?”

“I mean, yeah that too. If you had told ten year old me that she’d be studying to be a witch, I know she wouldn’t have believed you.” She shook her head. “But I was, um… I was more talking about _you_.” Her blush, a common feature of the night, returned. 

“Me?” He held out his hand as they walked closer together.”

“Yes, _you_ ,” she said, gladly taking his hand. “All those years of build up and… here we are.”

“Here we are,” Adrien repeated. “I can’t believe I was such an idiot for so long.”

“Hey, it’s as much my fault as yours.” She bumped her shoulder against him. “Let’s at least share the blame, huh?”

Adrien smiled. “There’s a lot of things I want to share with you.”

“Oh?” She said, putting on a false confidence. “Like what?”

Even in the dim light she could see a scarlet blush gracing Adrien’s face. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced shyly at her. “Like a, um… a kiss, maybe?” 

“Oh! S-sure! No sweat. Um… So we just…?” Marinette shifted a little closer to him, looked up into his eyes, so wide and green and surprised but just so full of love. The darkness crept even closer until Adrien pulled out his wand.

“Lumos!” He held his now glowing wand in one hand and gave her a bashful smile. “S-sorry. I just… I wanted to make sure I saw this.” He leaned down to her.

It was a moment she had often daydreamed about, but now that she was actually there she realized just had unprepared she was. After a few failed attempts - bumped noises, nerves, and just plain missing - they got it right. It wasn’t as perfect as her imagination had envisioned but…

It was real. 

And she couldn’t be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for joining me on this short adventure! I've been yearning to write this for ages, and it feels great to finally have it completely posted just in time for my Adrienette April 2020 fic to start. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this story! Thanks for reading!


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